Exodus 8:1

8:1 (7:26) ¹  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Release my people in order that they may serve me!

Exodus 8:20

The Fourth Blow: Flies

8:20 ² The Lord ³  said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and position yourself before Pharaoh as he goes out to the water, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Release my people that they may serve me!

Exodus 13:15

13:15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused ⁴  to release us, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of people to the firstborn of animals. ⁵  That is why I am sacrificing ⁶  to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb, but all my firstborn sons I redeem.’

Exodus 14:5

14:5 When it was reported ⁷  to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, ⁸  the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and the king and his servants said, ⁹  “What in the world have we done? ¹⁰  For we have released the people of Israel ¹¹  from serving us!”

Isaiah 45:13

45:13 It is me – I stir him up and commission him; ¹² 

I will make all his ways level.

He will rebuild my city;

he will send my exiled people home,

but not for a price or a bribe,”

says the Lord who commands armies.

Jeremiah 50:33

50:33 The Lord who rules over all ¹³  says,

“The people of Israel are oppressed.

So too are the people of Judah. ¹⁴ 

All those who took them captive are holding them prisoners.

They refuse to set them free.

Acts 4:21-23

4:21 After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising ¹⁵  God for what had happened. 4:22 For the man, on whom this miraculous sign ¹⁶  of healing had been performed, ¹⁷  was over forty years old.

The Followers of Jesus Pray for Boldness

4:23 When they were released, Peter and John ¹⁸  went to their fellow believers ¹⁹  and reported everything the high priests and the elders had said to them.

[8:1]  ¹ sn Beginning with 8:1, the verse numbers through 8:32 in English Bibles differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 8:1 ET = 7:26 HT, 8:2 ET = 7:27 HT, 8:3 ET = 7:28 HT, 8:4 ET = 7:29 HT, 8:5 ET = 8:1 HT, etc., through 8:32 ET = 8:28 HT. Thus in English Bibles chapter 8 has 32 verses, while in the Hebrew Bible it has 28 verses, with the four extra verses attached to chapter 7.

[8:20]  ² sn The announcement of the fourth plague parallels that of the first plague. Now there will be flies, likely dogflies. Egypt has always suffered from flies, more so in the summer than in the winter. But the flies the plague describes involve something greater than any normal season for flies. The main point that can be stressed in this plague comes by tracing the development of the plagues in their sequence. Now, with the flies, it becomes clear that God can inflict suffering on some people and preserve others – a preview of the coming judgment that will punish Egypt but set Israel free. God is fully able to keep the dog-fly in the land of the Egyptians and save his people from these judgments.

[8:20]  ³ tn Heb “And Yahweh said.”

[13:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “dealt hardly in letting us go” or “made it hard to let us go” (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 110). The verb is the simple Hiphil perfect הִקְשָׁה (hiqshah, “he made hard”); the infinitive construct לְשַׁלְּחֵנוּ (lÿshallÿkhenu, “to release us”) could be taken epexegetically, meaning “he made releasing us hard.” But the infinitive more likely gives the purpose or the result after the verb “hardened himself.” The verb is figurative for “be stubborn” or “stubbornly refuse.”

[13:15]  ⁵ tn The text uses “man” and “beast.”

[13:15]  ⁶ tn The form is the active participle.

[14:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “and it was told.” The present translation uses “reported,” since this involves information given to a superior.

[14:5]  ⁸ tn The verb must be given a past perfect translation because the fleeing occurred before the telling.

[14:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they said.” The referent (the king and his servants) is supplied for clarity.

[14:5]  ¹⁰ tn The question literally is “What is this we have done?” The demonstrative pronoun is used as an enclitic particle for emphasis (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[14:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “released Israel.” By metonymy the name of the nation is used collectively for the people who constitute it (the Israelites).

[45:13]  ¹² tn Heb “I stir him up in righteousness”; NASB “I have aroused him.” See the note at 41:2. Cyrus (cf. 44:28) is in view here.

[50:33]  ¹³ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For an explanation of this title see the study note on 2:19.

[50:33]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Oppressed are the people of Israel and the people of Judah together,” i.e., both the people of Israel and Judah are oppressed. However, neither of these renderings is very poetic. The translation seeks to achieve the same meaning with better poetic expression.

[4:21]  ¹⁵ tn Or “glorifying.”

[4:22]  ¹⁶ tn Here σημεῖον (shmeion) has been translated as “miraculous sign” rather than simply “sign” or “miracle” since both components appear to be present in the context. See also the note on this word in v. 16.

[4:22]  ¹⁷ tn Or “had been done.”

[4:23]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Peter and John) have been specified in the translation for clarity, since a new topic begins in v. 23 and the last specific reference to Peter and John in the Greek text is in 4:19.

[4:23]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “to their own [people].” In context this phrase is most likely a reference to other believers rather than simply their own families and/or homes, since the group appears to act with one accord in the prayer that follows in v. 24. At the literary level, this phrase suggests how Jews were now splitting into two camps, pro-Jesus and anti-Jesus.